


Lost and Found

by inmydreams_itsallreal



Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Anniversary, M/M, Marriage Proposal, scavenger hunt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-25
Updated: 2019-08-25
Packaged: 2020-09-26 17:56:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20393791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inmydreams_itsallreal/pseuds/inmydreams_itsallreal
Summary: Jack leads Crutchie on a scavenger hunt.





	Lost and Found

Crutchie woke up later than usual, feeling strange. He groggily opened his eyes, trying to figure out what was different about today. He looked at the clock, startled to see that it was already 11 in the morning. Jack usually woke him at eight with his obnoxious singing. Then, it hit him: Jack was nowhere to be seen. Crutchie sat up, heart racing, when he spotted a small card resting on Jack’s pillow. He cautiously opened it, and saw, in Jack’s messy handwriting: ‘ _ Happy 1 year! To celebrate, head on over to the place where I almost killed you. Love, Jackie.’ _

Crutchie smiled and shook his head. Leave it up to Jack to be as extra as possible. He got up and began dressing, deciding on a nicer outfit than usual - it was a special day, after all. Exactly one year ago, Crutchie and Jack had finally gotten together after months of being absolute morons who were so oblivious to the other’s feelings. And Crutchie was so grateful to have finally worked up the nerve to ask Jack out. He didn’t know what he would have done without Jack. 

Glancing over the small white card again, Crutchie grinned before making his way out the door to the place where Crutchie and Jack had first met: Penn Station, a busy train station in the city filled with tourists. 

_ It was a hot summer day, and Crutchie could feel the sweat trickle down his neck, though from heat or nerves, he had no idea. This was it - he was moving to New York City: time for a fresh start and new opportunities. Crutchie was anxious to see what awaited him as the train rumbled to a screeching halt, announcing their destination: Penn Station, right outside of Times Square. He quickly stood up, and went to grab his suitcase from the luggage rack above his head. Before he got the chance, however, a tall figure walked right into him, nearly knocking the forearm crutches out from underneath him. Crutchie turned to apologize to the figure, and was met with the face of the most beautiful man Crutchie had ever seen. Crutchie stood there, mouth agape, before blinking rapidly and stammering out an apology. The man grabbed Crutchie’s shoulder, which shut him up pretty quickly. _

_ “Don’t apologize,” The man laughed. “It was my fault - I wasn’t looking where I was going.” _

_ The man turned to the luggage rack and grabbed Crutchie’s suitcase.  _

_ “This is yours, right?” He asked as he read the luggage tag. “Charlie Morris, eh? A pleasure.” _

_ The man gave a shining grin as he handed over Crutchie’s suitcase, which Crutchie took wordlessly. Together they walked off the train and into the overwhelming crowd. Crutchie turned to go, but was stopped once again by the stranger. He turned to see the man holding out a luggage tag, which read ‘ _ Jack Kelly _ .’ Underneath was a phone number. Crutchie took it, his face turning a shade redder, before untying his own luggage tag and thrusting it into Jack’s hand.  _

_ “I hope to see you again, Jack Kelly,” He said meekly before making his way to the escalator, immediately losing Jack to the sea of people.  _

Crutchie arrived at Penn Station in about half an hour and made his way to the entrance. He stopped for a second, realizing he had no idea what to look for. He decided his best bet was to head for the track that fateful train had arrived on, track two. He reached the entrance to the track after scraping by many lost-looking tourists carrying way too much luggage. Crutchie looked around, before spotting one of his friends, Elmer, standing at the entrance holding a suitcase identical to the one Crutchie had brought to the city, as well as a large bouquet of flowers. Crutchie hurried towards him, and began to speak, before being shushed by Elmer. 

“I’m simply the messenger,” Elmer whispered before handing Crutchie the suitcase and the flowers. The suitcase was locked. Crutchie thanked him before looking at the luggage tag, which read “ _ Now, onwards! To where I made you into a beautiful butterfly!” _ This clue was a bit more cryptic, but Crutchie figured it out almost immediately: Times Square. 

_ Crutchie squeezed his way through a large crowd of people half-heartedly trying to hand him pamphlets for bus tours and comedy shows. He pushed past them, anxious to get to the face he was sure he saw, sitting in a clearing behind a sign which read ‘ _ Face Painting: $5 _ .’ Underneath the bold lettering were pictures of children with their faces painted to look like tigers, dogs, and Spongebob. He reached the table, where Jack was wiping down the paint-stained surface. Crutchie cleared his throat before reaching into his pocket and grabbing a $5 bill. Jack turned and jumped out of his seat.  _

_ “Crutchie! I can’t believe it - I was gonna call as soon as I could, I’m sorry we haven’t seen each other in a couple weeks; I’ve been so busy with work and -” _

_ “It’s okay, Jackie, really. Now, if you don’t mind, I’m a paying customer who’d like to be a butterfly.” _

_ Jack grinned before gesturing to the seat opposite from his. Crutchie sat down, noticing how their knees were pressed together in this proximity. Jack busied himself with the paints as Crutchie studied Jack’s face, noticing the way his nose scrunched up when he was concentrating and how his cheeks seemed to be just a bit redder than usual. _

_ Crutchie was startled out of the daydream when the feeling of a cold, wet brush touched his cheek. _

_“Is this okay?” Asked Jack as he tentatively reached out a hand to cup Crutchie’s other cheek. “To keep your face steady.”__  
_ _Crutchie gulped and felt himself blushing. “Y-yeah, go ahead.” Crutchie had a feeling that holding his face like this was, in fact, not needed. Not that he was complaining._

Crutchie reached the spot in Times Square where the face painting booth had been set up, right behind a kiosk selling lottery tickets. Where the table had been was another familiar face: Racetrack, who was sitting on a foldout chair. Crutchie approached, and Race grabbed the suitcase. He took out a key and undid the lock. The suitcase popped open, and Race handed it back to Crutchie. Peering inside, he saw a caricature of himself and Jack. Their caricature selves were sitting at what appeared to be an extremely classy restaurant. On the bottom was another clue: “ _ You still are the most beautiful butterfly! Now, to the best first date ever! It’s a 4:00 reservation, so you’d better hurry up! Love, Jackie.”  _ Of course - Sardi’s. It really was the best first date ever - a restaurant full of signed portraits of Broadway stars was like heaven for Crutchie. He smiled at Race before making the trek to Sardi’s. 

It was 3:55. Crutchie looked at his reflection in the large window of the restaurant, making a useless attempt to flatten his unruly hair. He took a deep breath, and entered the building. As he entered, he saw the host standing behind a platform and cleared his throat. 

“Uh, I have a reservation at four,” Crutchie said.

“Wonderful. Name?”

Crutchie stared. He had no idea what to say. “Charlie... Charlie Morris...?”

The host nodded. “Right this way, sir.” He led Crutchie to a table with two seats. Both were unoccupied. 

“Your guest should be arriving soon. He called ahead to let us know he would be late.”

Crutchie could do nothing but nod and sit down. He had no idea what was going to happen. 

Crutchie’s face was buried deep in the menu when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He looked up, and saw Jack standing there, looking more cleaned up than he’d ever been. Crutchie smiled wide. He was so relieved to see Jack. Jack took a seat across from Crutchie and turned to the waiter who had led him to the table. 

“I think we’re ready to order,” He said. 

The waiter nodded and took their orders before walking through a door to the kitchen.

Crutchie turned to Jack. “Jackie, this is too much-”  
“Nothing is too much for today, Crutch. Trust me.”

Crutchie blushed, taking Jack’s hand from across the table.

Soon, their food arrived. From the time Crutchie had spent with Jack here thus far, he noticed that Jack was not acting like himself. He was fidgeting with something in his pocket and bouncing his leg - not to mention how red his face was.

After they ate, Jack led Crutchie out of the restaurant. The sun was just beginning to set as they walked down the street. Jack turned to Crutchie.

“I just have one more place to take you.”

Crutchie grinned. “By all means, lead the way.”

Jack lead Crutchie down unfamiliar streets as the sun sank lower in the sky. At last, Jack stopped. They were standing in front of a tall fountain in Central Park. An angel stood at the top of the fountain as it poured water into a giant pool covered with lily pads.

Crutchie raised an eyebrow. “Central Park? What special thing happened here?”  
Jack took a deep breath and got down on one knee, pulling out a small box from his pocket. 

“This,” Jack breathed.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed!!! This was just something i wrote impulsively lmao. All of the places in this scavenger hunt I have been to and experienced firsthand, so I hope they're written accurately!


End file.
